CORONADO  Most Coronado hotel guests will pay a bit more for an overnight stay starting next week as part of a plan aimed at benefiting local businesses suffering through an economic slump.

The city’s four major hotels agreed to raise the hotel tax a half-percentage point starting July 16 to fund marketing and promotion efforts, including a $250,000 contract with the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. Coronado’s hotel tax, at 8 percent, is among the lowest in San Diego County, second only to Lemon Grove’s 6 percent.

City officials are directing the effort and last month approved the formation of the Coronado Tourism Improvement District. The council last year turned down a Chamber of Commerce request for $350,000 to fund a marketing program. The thinking was that local businesses would get more out of a tourism district in the long run.

Coronado officials more than a decade ago cut back on paying to promote tourism, relying instead on the city’s reputation and the marketing budgets of its luxury resorts. However, with a $3 million drop in annual hotel taxes collected from just three years ago, local businesses asked the City Council for help.

After consultants found no support for an assessment district that would levy additional taxes on businesses, Coronado’s hotels with 90-plus rooms opted to charge guests an 8.5 percent tax per night. The increase is expected to generate an estimated $500,000 in the first year and will help fund a branding campaign, marketing and the salary of a district administrator.

For a person visiting the city, the room tax on a $500 hotel bill will rise from $40 to $42.50.

At a June 15 meeting, council members adopted an ordinance establishing the district and its boundaries and an advisory board to govern it. The council also approved a $250,000 line of credit to fund an agreement with ConVis for marketing and promotion.

“If you walk up and down Orange Avenue, five or six stores are still vacant,” said Todd Shallan, a member of the newly formed advisory board and vice president and general manager of the Hotel del Coronado. “I think we’ve seen the bottom here, but across the board people are still off from where they were a few years ago. If we don’t have a good summer, there will probably be more vacancies.”

Shallan said the big hotels accepted the increase because “sometimes an additional tax on smaller inns makes a big deal.” He said the idea is for all businesses to profit from Coronado’s “brand presence,” something the city hasn’t had in years.

“Any time a destination stops advertising the destination, eventually it will hurt the destination,” Shallan said. “In mid-decade, business was going gangbusters. Regardless of where, you were busy. But at the end of the day, if your brand presence is not out there, people will forget you.”